A Little Excursion into the Woods
by Aellepi
Summary: Yuuko sends Watanuki and Doumeki on another errand. Not for the shop this time. For her. Oh, boy. You just know there's going to be trouble on the way. A oneshot, hints of DouWata. Very weird. Proceed with caution.


Hello! Surprisingly, I don't have much to say on this one. I'm usually such a rambling person. =_=' Heh, I still hope you enjoy reading this!

**Warning:** Guh... Um, you should be warned that this is my first serious attempt at writing humour. Which means that this is going to be a mighty strange fic. There are also a few swearwords, but I doubt that's going to bother anyone. I took the liberty of making this with hints (strong hints in my opinion x]) of DouWata. If you have an aversion to that, don't read. I won't mind if you don't.

**Disclaimer**: xxxHolic is not mine in any way, shape or form. That is a sad fact of life and we all have to learn to live with such facts. I am still coping with mine.

**To:** This is a birthdayfic for Twelf Bell. I hope you in particular enjoy this! :D

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><p><strong>A Little Excursion into the Woods<strong>

It was by some strange reason that Watanuki found himself walking up that steep hill towards the blasted, cursed – quite literally as nothing had been done about the poor woman – beach house of last year's. It was also by another strange reason why _he_ had to be the one to carry the heavy baggage, _again_. One could add to that expanding list of strange reasons, for instance, the presence of Doumeki, the presence of Yuuko, the presence of Mokona and the rather obvious absence of Himawari.

But then again, if asked – and even in the case when it wasn't – Yuuko would laugh and answer: "Hitzusen, Watanuki. _Hitzusen_." Well, if she was very drunk, or feeling childish, the answer might have been something along the lines of: "This way it's more _fun_!" Or even: "Sea-viewing sake!" if the summed up alcohol-level of both Yuuko and Mokona was approximately in the four to six bottles. (Watanuki did not even want to _know_ what Doumeki's consumption of alcohol would do to that amount. He was still hoping that ignoring the glutton would make him suddenly disappear.)

Which certainly did not give a proper answer to Watanuki's desperate questions – desperate was putting it mildly – but still pretty much summarized the whole thing. Which, in its turn, did not make Watanuki any happier.

Especially when on the first night there the three gluttons made an almost impossible request for food which was, not only out of season, but something that was usually made in the span of two weeks rather than two hours.

Thusly, Watanuki made the assumption that his summer vacation would pretty much follow the same line. And he was not disappointed. If it was even possible to use that term in this context.

.-.-.

"Remind me again, why are you here?"

"..."

"Well?"

"Yuuko-san asked me if I wanted to go to the beach."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"STOP STARING AT ME LIKE THAT, YOU JERK! YOU'RE FREAKING ME OUT!"

"..."

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO _STOP IT_?"

The shouts echoed across the forest in a rather spectacular way, bouncing off on trees and interestingly, not to mention tortuously, becoming louder each bounce. Watanuki was, as usual, not affected by the volume of his own voice and seemed to even enjoy making it as loud as possible. And with the knowledge that there was no human habitation for miles – a fact that most of the time worried Watanuki to the point of utter horror – who could blame him? It was not often that he got to be quite so loud without getting angry stares and scandalized glances.

The forest the two were in was fit, as forests like this usually were, with lots and lots of undergrowth that tickled and grabbed and otherwise just annoyed the heck out of you. A little while ago the trees had become tall enough to give Watanuki a crick in the neck if he tried to see their tops. It was, also, extremely soggy from the huge storm that had attacked the area last night, and was seemingly trying to soak Watanuki through and through by dropping two gallons of water near him every once in a while.

At this particular moment, Watanuki and Doumeki were sitting next to each other on a large tree root, resting after a two hour hike into the woods. And yes, sitting _next_ to each other rather than as _far away_ from each other as possible. Doumeki had just sat down when Watanuki had told him he needed a small break and Watanuki had not found a suitable spot well away from Doumeki to sit on.

Though Watanuki had to gleefully admit to himself that the jerk must be regretting _that_ now.

"SERIOUSLY! What is _wrong_ with you?"

Doumeki, as eloquently as always, only raised an eyebrow in inquiry. The cool effect was rather spoiled when he kept his finger stuffed into the Watanuki-nearest ear – i.e. the ear most likely to suffer from permanent loss of hearing if submitted to an unrelenting vocal assault from the seer.

Bristling in anger, Watanuki turned away from the stoic archer with a huff and resolved to ignore the jerk for the rest of the stupid hike. No, for the rest of the unnecessary vacation. Nay, for the rest of Watanuki's more than likely short life!

Why was it again that Watanuki found himself stuck traipsing along the woods with Doumeki? Alone, no less? Well, the answer to this is very, very simple. And very… How should one put it? Yuukoish?

.-.-.

_¨You want me to _what_?¨_

_Yuuko stood in the middle of the kitchen, grinning widely at Watanuki. She had her hands clasped together and her eyes gleamed in a manner that Watanuki did not like at all. Mokona perched on the witch's shoulder, grinning manically at the poor bespectacled boy._

_¨It's just a little excursion into the woods, Watanuki. Nothing much.¨_

_Watanuki, holding the kettle of water he had been about to put to boil, glared at his employer. ¨Just a little excursion?¨_

_The two nodded vigorously._

_Watanuki kept his glare on Yuuko and Mokona. ¨No!¨ He turned back to the gas stove, slamming the kettle on it and opening the gas._

_¨Aah! _Wa_-ta-nuki-ku~n!¨_

_¨NO!¨ Knowing that nothing good ever came out of Yuuko acting like that, Watanuki moved to the fridge to immerse himself in cooking, but never made it as Mokona had decided to become as annoying as possible in retaliation._

_After the rather loud confrontation – Watanuki yelling profanities hither and thither while Mokona bounced around the kitchen and Yuuko laughed liberally at the sight – Watanuki slumped to the floor in a heap, crying and mumbling to himself about his crazy boss and her crazy allies making Watanuki's life as complicated as humanly _and_ inhumanly possible._

_Yuuko stood before the boy, grinning in that manner that always sent shivers of trepidation up and down Watanuki's spine. She bent down slowly from her waist until she was looming over the seer in a menacing manner. Mokona jumped from the counter to the top of Watanuki's head. ¨Watanuki. ¨_

_¨Yes, yes, Yuuko-san.¨ The hand that had been threatening the whole of the universe containing one Mokona a while ago now waved his surrender. ¨I'll go.¨_

_¨Marvellous!¨ Yuuko and Mokona, who bounced to Yuuko's shoulder, both squealed and laughed. ¨Watanuki-kun is such a good boy!¨ The witch twirled around and marched out of the kitchen. ¨I can't wait to tell Doumeki-kun that the two of you'll be going after all!¨_

_Watanuki stared impassively after his employer, before jolting into action. ¨What? What do you mean by that?¨ He ran after the witch, stopping and returning only to put the stove off, screaming bloody murder all the time. ¨Yuuko-SAN!¨_

.-.-.

After he had been explained very carefully that Doumeki would be going as well, Watanuki had refused to go. Then when Yuuko had told him that he had already promised and that refuting that promise would be very costly to him, he had agreed on going again, but told Yuuko firmly that _Doumeki would not be coming with him._

¨But he must, Watanuki. We wouldn't want you to get eaten, now would we?¨

Which had pretty much settled everything to Watanuki's dismay.

So, after the inevitable charade of 'WHAT? YOU DON'T WANT ME TO GET _EATEN_? NO WAY, I'M NOT GOING!' and 'YOU JERK! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?' and 'I _WHAT_? WHY DO _I_ HAVE TO CARRY THAT STUPID THING?' Watanuki and Doumeki had been able to finally set off towards their yet unknown destination.

Which leads the story back to: Watanuki and Doumeki were sitting on a tree root. The 'stupid thing' that Watanuki was calling the... well, 'stupid thing', was a backpack that now lay on the ground next to Watanuki's feet. Its contents were also yet unknown – hence calling it just the 'stupid thing'. Yuuko had given it to him with a warning of, ¨No peeking, Watanuki. Open it only when you reach the right place.¨

Watanuki glared at the hateful thing, as if all that was happening to him at the moment was its fault. It more than likely, when you knew Yuuko, was. He jumped a little when Doumeki spoke. ¨Ready?¨

Watanuki blinked confusedly at one of his constant antagonizers. ¨What?¨

Another very eloquent look from Doumeki. It spoke volumes of 'Are you an idiot or is that just me?' His opinion on the matter, whether Watanuki was stupid or whether that was just Doumeki's imagination, remained unclear, though it seemed that Doumeki believed more the former as he spoke again, making sure to carefully enunciate every word, ¨Are you ready to go again?¨

A glare was sent Doumeki's way at the tone of his voice until the words made themselves understood in Watanuki's brain. ¨Ah!¨ Watanuki straightened and nodded, ¨Yes, I guess.¨ He took the backpack and slung it to his shoulder before following Dou- ¨_Why are you leading?_¨

Doumeki didn't look back.

¨Well?¨

¨Yuuko told me where we're going.¨

Watanuki stayed silent at that. Then, ¨She WHAT?¨

Now Doumeki did look over his shoulder, a slightly annoyed look on his face. ¨She told me.¨ Then he turned back to the front.

¨Why? Why would she do that?¨

¨...¨

¨You're _Doumeki_! You're not to be trusted with things like that! I bet we're already lost!¨ Suddenly realizing what he had said and the likelihood of that oh-so-_innocent_ accusation, Watanuki stopped walking and started to tear at his hair in horror, contorting his body in interesting ways. His voice rose to such a level of loudness that it completely astonished Doumeki, who had by now already been exposed to a large variety of 'loudness' in Watanuki-terms.

Watanuki was forced to stop ranting when a small tremble worked its way from his toes to the very top of his head. He looked around himself, seeing that Doumeki hadn't stopped and was getting further and further away from him – with his fingers stuck into his ears, the jerk – and _that was very bad for Watanuki's remaining life_. Oh, yes. That _was_ the answer to his original question, wasn't it? ¨ARGHH! YOU JERK! WAIT!¨ And he stom- walked after the archer, trying all the same to look as angry as possible.

Watanuki had rather early on in the hike realized that stomping was not the way to make progress in this forest. After countless falls, bruises, small scratches and damp patches on clothing, one does get the point. Not to mention that Watanuki was very reluctant to add anything to the 'What Watanuki owns to Doumeki in bento'-tally, that Yuuko and Doumeki both undoubtedly keep in their minds. Having Doumeki save him even from small thing such as those every now and then was not productive to be able to do that.

¨Hey, Doumeki! How would you know where we are going even if Yuuko-san did tell you?¨

¨...She gave me a map.¨

Watanuki stared at the back of Doumeki's head. ¨...A map? Really?¨

¨Hn.¨

Silence fell between the two, with Watanuki keeping his stare on Doumeki's back. When nothing seemed to happen for at least five minutes, Watanuki wondered if Doumeki would understand or if maybe he needed- Oh, bother it! ¨WILL YOU LET ME SEE THAT MAP?¨

Doumeki didn't turn around, but actually had the _nerve_ to start walking faster.

¨Wait!¨ Watanuki lengthened his stride to not lose sight of the archer as the bushes and tree branches and leaves were so perfectly getting in front of his eyes and his _magnificent_ view of Doumeki's ridiculously wide shoulders. ¨Doumeki-!¨

A hand grabbed his wrist from the fit thicket and dragged Watanuki forward fast. Because of the dense foliage, he couldn't see an arms width in front if himself or anything of the ground. That was the reason why he lost his footing and would have made further acquaintance with the damp earth if not for the owner of that very same hand who caught him before he could do so.

¨You idiot!¨ Watanuki tugged himself from Doumeki's grasp quickly and glared at him. ¨Why'd you do that?¨ He was a little surprised to realize that he was able to see Doumeki well again. He quickly glanced around himself a little and saw that they had popped out onto a smallish treeless clearing. A nasty wind blew between and around the two, causing Watanuki to shiver in cold.

¨The forest was weird.¨ Doumeki was gazing at the way they had come from. If Watanuki wasn't absolutely sure that Doumeki didn't feel emotions – the inhuman jerk that he was – he'd say that the look on Doumeki's face was something akin to wariness.

Watanuki stared at the face of his usual troublemaker and saviour. It was a statement of the kind of life he lead now – and had always lead, if Watanuki were to think a bit more on it – that this seemed a relatively sane thing to say. The only problem was that it was _Doumeki_ saying it.

¨The forest. Was weird.¨

Doumeki raised an eyebrow at Watanuki. ¨You didn't notice?¨ His look was sending off the unique-Doumeki-wibes that meant 'Can anyone be that blind?'.

Watanuki glared at Doumeki. The archer was making no sense at all. There hadn't been anything really strange about the woods. Right? ¨Noticed whaaaa... Ah.¨ Eyes widening, Watanuki turned back the way they had come. The green of the forest seemed the same, nothing menacing about it, but...¨The leaves. And the...¨

¨Hn.¨ Doumeki nodded.

Swallowing dryly, Watanuki took a few steps to the side, not wanting to get any nearer to Doumeki or the forest. He could only take a few steps, though, when Doumeki grabbed his arm again and forced the seer to face him.

¨WAAH!¨ Watanuki flailed his hand to free it, but Doumeki just tightened his grip and pulled him closer to himself.

¨Be careful, you idiot.¨ Doumeki looked pointedly behind Watanuki.

When Watanuki glanced over his shoulder, he realized that he had failed to see the edge of what seemed to be a very, very high cliff. There was a spectacular view of the forest continuing on beneath them, disappearing into the horizon. The distance between the edge and Watanuki was two steps, three if they were small ones.

Watanuki swallowed again and licked his suddenly dry lips, but foolhardily didn't move away from the edge. ¨Who are you calling an idiot. Let go.¨ White as a sheet, he turned back to Doumeki.

The archer was staring at him with his brows furrowed. ¨No.¨ He tugged a little at Watanuki's arm again, and when Watanuki did nothing, he pulled some more, firmer this time.

Watanuki, still half-shocked from seeing the edge and the drop to the ground – who knew he suffered from vertigo? He hadn't been like that at the time of the Angel-san-incident – only became aware of _Doumeki_ pulling at him. Even if it was away from danger, he still acted like Watanuki.

He yelled and flailed his arms suddenly. He felt his free arm hitting something and he heard a soft _uff_. Then Doumeki loosened his hold fractionally on Watanuki's arm and Watanuki, with experience from running away from spirits with lots of limbs or tentacles or some such, broke wholly from Doumeki's grip, with grievous consequences.

The damp earth beneath Watanuki trembled and moved. Downwards.

Doumeki and Watanuki stared at each other in horror as Watanuki started to move along with the ground, sliding to join the free fall. Watanuki didn't even scream, seemingly incapable of that. Someone else did, though.

.-.-.

Watanuki realized that he was lying on something rather soft and warm. It smelled nice too. All in all, it would be nice to just stay here, feeling this safety and nothing more. He would have wanted to snuggle into it, but his mind was clearly telling him – _AAAARGH! I'm falling! I'm falling! I don't want to die!_ – that there was something very strange with this setting.

So he opened his eyes. And regretted it almost immediately.

He recognized Doumeki's shirt immediately – it was a brown colour that matched nicely with the archer's golden eyes – and felt horrified at his own thoughts from a moment before. But, in truth, what really horrified him more was the knowledge that Yuuko would take one look at him and _know_ those thoughts. And _hint_ at them as often as she could and give him these _looks_ and just- Just-

¨AARGH!¨ Watanuki practically flew off of Doumeki, screaming his head off. He landed on his butt on the damp earth and scampered as fast as possible and as far away from the inert figure as he could. ¨WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE- ?¨ He blinked. ¨Doumeki?¨

Doumeki groaned deeply and slowly moved to his side to stare blankly at Watanuki. ¨What?¨ His voice was low, and if it had been someone else but Doumeki, Watanuki would have become worried for the speaker because of the pained tone. Really.

Letting out another groan, Doumeki sat up properly and rubbed the back of his head. His eyes gazed at Watanuki in a rueful manner before shutting for one moment. ¨You're heavy.¨

Watanuki glared at Doumeki and yelled, ¨THEN WHY DID YOU CATCH ME IN THE FIRST PLACE, YOU MORON?¨ Hearing his own words, Watanuki fell silent, eyes wide. He glanced up and saw that the edge was… ¨WHAT? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?¨

(Unseen by Watanuki, Doumeki winced and placed his hands to cover his ears. "…Loud," he breathed out quietly to no-one.)

The edge from which they had fallen was approximately four meters above the two. And that _was_ impossible because Watanuki could distinctly remember seeing a drop that was definitely _not_ only four meters long. And as much as Watanuki hated to say anything like this as it might give people strange ideas, the fact that Doumeki had grabbed him and shielded him from the ground when he fell meant that Doumeki too had seen the huge drop.

¨Ah.¨ Doumeki was staring upwards as well. Then he stood up and started to brush his clothes, keeping his eyes on Watanuki still sprawled on the ground. He raised an eyebrow, somehow still being able to maintain his blank look that didn't let out any thoughts or emotions.

Grumbling to himself about everything from idiotic archers to good clothes becoming unusable, Watanuki stood up and with a yelp realized that he was still carrying the stupid thing on his back. Swinging it anxiously from his shoulder, he was just about to open it to see if anything was broken when he remembered Yuuko's words on not peeking. He shivered at the thought of the consequences if he did, making that decision to not open it, just in case now wasn't the 'right time'. If something was broken, he would know it anyway.

Watanuki sighed tiredly and pulled the stupid thing onto his shoulders again, grimacing when he felt the damp from the earth in his trousers grate in an awful manner against his skin.

Doumeki didn't look any better than Watanuki felt, the brown shirt dark with damp earth that he hadn't been able to brush off and his jeans seeming to be in an equally horrible state, but there was no sign of any kind of discomfort in his face. ¨We're close now.¨ His tone had changed from the painful one from before and Watanuki decided he could just forget that it had ever been there. Not that he had been worried.

Watanuki shot Doumeki a questioning look as he tried in to his best abilities to brush himself off as well. ¨How'd you know that?¨ His mild look changed into a glare when Doumeki stepped close and tried to help him.

Doumeki only rolled his eyes and stood back when Watanuki looked like he might start screaming again. ¨I looked at the map.¨ He stared thoughtfully at the seer before nodding, sticking his fingers into his ears at the same time. ¨Idiot.¨

¨WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT? AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'LOOKED AT THE MAP'? WHEN DID YOU DO THAT?¨

Doumeki unclogged his ears when Watanuki looked like he had yelled enough. The archer shook his head and started to walk away from the cliff wall, ignoring the shouts and looks Watanuki sent his way. He disappeared into the woods yet again.

The seer growled angrily and, resisting the urge to stomp, walked after Doumeki. ¨Will you _wait_, you oaf?¨

.-.-.

¨Oi. Are you alright?¨

¨I- I- I'm… fine.¨ Watanuki coughed into his hand, trying, and failing, to glare at Doumeki. ¨And… my name… isn- isn't… 'Oi'.¨ Watanuki's shoulders drooped theatrically. His steps were faltering and he looked like he would collapse any minute. The wind seemed to have gone from his sails.

Although he did get some of it back when Doumeki took hold of his hand. Whether this had anything to do with the fact that it _was_ Doumeki or it was _Doumeki_ or it was his _hand_ Doumeki was holding, the movement still had a reviving effect on Watanuki. He proceeded to yell and flail for all he was worth. Which was a lot.

The cacophony that Watanuki was emitting did boil down to one single question, and that question went as followed: ¨WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?¨

And the answer: ¨There are spirits here.¨ _Idiot._ ¨This'll make it better.¨

And there could be no re-answer to that because Watanuki found to his dismay that Doumeki was right and holding hands did make the feeling better. Okay, it made the feeling nearly vanish, but that was beside the point. The point was that Doumeki had to hold Watanuki's hand. And Watanuki… felt a little happy.

Shaking his head, Watanuki growled to himself. No, Watanuki wasn't happy that Doumeki was holding his hand. No, he just felt glad that there were no spirits trying to eat him. And Doumeki being inserted into that was just Watanuki feeling a little grateful- NO! No way! No! Nonononononono-

Doumeki, already grown accustomed to Watanuki's strange antics, ignored the seer and kept on walking. He tightened his hold a little on Watanuki's hand, though. Not that Watanuki noticed.

.-.-.

They were now lying side by side on their stomachs on the wet earth, peeking through a bush into a smallish clearing. Doumeki was still holding Watanuki's hand, lending the seer his purifying energy.

It was by an unvoiced agreement that at this precise moment it was still _Doumeki_ holding _Watanuki's_ hand and not vice versa. Not even when it was Watanuki's knuckles that were white with the exertion of squeezing the archer's fingers with all his might. Who could blame him for being terrified of what he was seeing? Especially if one took into consideration the fact that Watanuki was prone to see quite a lot of decidedly disquieting things.

The clearing was filled with all sorts of spirits, grotesque and otherwise, seeming to dance around each other and the huge charred tree on the other side of the clearing from the hiding duo. Watanuki could hear a sound that made him shiver in something unnamed as he was sure – he'd seen and heard Yuuko and Mokona enough to realize on his own what this was – that the sound was singing. Very faltering singing, granted. If only knowing that would make the feeling it any better.

Watanuki backed off from the scene, telling Doumeki by tugging his hand to come too. They slowly crawled away, neither saying anything. When they reached the place where they had left the stupid thing, Watanuki struggled to sit up properly with Doumeki following his lead again.

Neither of the boys let go of the other's hand.

They remained silent, both digesting in their minds what they had seen just then. Watanuki occasionally shivered – from the cold and shock and fear alike. He didn't like at all how this 'little excursion into the woods' had turned into something not-so-little. Damn Yuuko…

It was unusually Doumeki who broke the silence after a while. ¨Are you going to see what's in the bag?¨ He stared at it.

Watanuki nodded warily. He was as curious as Doumeki to what was inside of it, but still very reluctant to really take a look. Knowing Yuuko, it could be _anything_. And Watanuki should know. He had been on the receiving end of many such packages. They were always leading him into trouble and to be indebted to the archer.

Thinking that that was exactly the case, Watanuki was exacting caution as he opened it very slowly and carefully with only one hand at his disposal. He was half-expecting Mokona to jump from the bag at any given moment, scaring Watanuki and alerting the spirits to their presence.

No such luck. Instead he found four large empty glass bottles – Watanuki had the faint feeling of having seem them before, but where on earth…? – and a small box made of some kind of light-coloured wood. It was very pretty, with little swirls carved into the outside, making it look exotic. Taped onto the lid was a note with black characters scribbled onto it in Yuuko's handwriting. A message from the witch.

_There's a good boy, Watanuki. Now give the box to Doumeki. He'll know what to do with it._

Watanuki blinked at the note, re-reading it a few times before starting to glare at it. He growled – ¨Who are you calling a 'good boy', Yuuko-san? I am not a dog!¨ – and chucked the stupid box at Doumeki, hoping that it would hit the archer hard and make him realise that this was all his fault, as was everything else that had gone wrong in Watanuki's life since Doumeki glued himself into it.

Unfortunately, as Doumeki was very good at sports, he easily caught the chucked thing with his one free hand. Nothing was said, but his expression, a raised eyebrow, told more than enough – for those who could read the stoic boy's expressions, that is – of his thoughts on Watanuki's usual childish behaviour.

Watanuki looked back into the bag, wondering if there was anything other inside apart from those five things. Seeing that there was only a bunch of old rags, he reached to grab one of the bottles to have a better look at them – There really was something familiar about them. Why couldn't he remember…? – when Doumeki's voice, sounding odd for the archer, stopped him.

¨Yes.¨

Doumeki was staring at whatever it was inside the box, his eyes a little wider than normal. Watanuki would go as far as to say that his expression, if Doumeki _had_ any expressions at all, was something along the likes of surprise mingled with happiness. But why? What would Yuuko give him to make the archer look like that? A wish, maybe?

¨Yes, what?¨ Watanuki asked irritated when the expression didn't change and Doumeki did not elaborate.

Golden eyes moved to stare intently at Watanuki's mismatched ones. A frown rippled across Doumeki's brow. He glanced down at the box, moving his one free hand so that he could read the note again. His frown deepened.

When the silence only stretched on with no signs of Doumeki ever answering of his own accord, Watanuki repeated himself, making sure to lace his tone with his annoyance as much as possible, ¨_What?_ What is it, you gluttonous oaf?¨

Doumeki ignored Watanuki in favour of the note. He seemed to be reading it again, that frown still on his face. He looked up at Watanuki. ¨Oi.¨

¨My name isn't-!¨

¨Shush. Take hold of my arm.¨

Watanuki, mouth shut and eyes wide as he realised that he had almost yelled aloud, gave the archer a befuddled look, too surprised to get angry at the orders. ¨What?¨

¨I need both my hands. Take hold of my arm.¨ Doumeki raised the box a little, as if that would explain everything to Watanuki. It didn't.

¨Why?¨

Doumeki put the box on the ground and forcefully tried to move Watanuki's hand to grasp his arm. After a small tussle for power, Watanuki had to give up and let Doumeki have his way. The archer – all brawn and no brains, in Watanuki's opinion – was stronger than wiry, spirit-attracting Watanuki.

Watanuki did, however, have a wonderful excuse to tell Doumeki fair and square why exactly it was that he had given up. ¨I want to see what Yuuko-san gave you. Well?¨

Doumeki ignored Watanuki yet again, taking the box again and opening it. He lifted something small from it and quickly slipped it into his right index finger.

Watanuki narrowed his eyes, scooting a little closer to Doumeki to see what it was better. ¨Is that… Is that a ring?¨ A small thought entered his head, that could- _should_ not be there. It was unequivocally by all other thoughts bundled to the back of his mind where he promptly ignored its very existence.

But as it was, the thing indeed _was_ a ring. A small wooden ring that had similar swirls etched into it as the box it came from had. Watanuki could feel a faint whiff of power emanating from it, something the box hadn't done. There was no doubt that that was something someone like Yuuko would own. Which put into question the origins of that object and whether there was anyone out there missing their precious, antique ring.

Doumeki flexed his right hand a little, feeling the way that the ring settled onto his finger. ¨A thimble.¨

The small thought in the back of Watanuki's mind jumped up and down, screaming something, but Watanuki stubbornly kept ignoring it. ¨What does it do?¨

Instead of answering, Doumeki took hold of the backpack and thrust it into Watanuki's chest. ¨Hold onto it,¨ he told the surprised seer, before standing up and dragging Watanuki up with him. He then proceeded to drag the two of them closer to the clearing again. ¨We need to get to the tree. Got it?¨

¨I- Doumeki? What's goin-¨ Watanuki didn't have the chance to get further as Doumeki suddenly broke the hand to arm contact, causing Watanuki to curl a little on himself as the sullied air attacked him again. His freed arm started to scrabble at his bare neck, trying to do _something_, as the nasty energies got inside his mouth and forced their way down his throat, blocking his airways. His other arm clutched the bag of bottles instinctively closer.

After a while of hacking and coughing, Watanuki finally managed to get some much needed air into his lungs, desperate to remain alive. He slowly became aware of lots and lots of screams, loud enough to compete with his own voice when he was angry at Doumeki. Each time a voice was cut off it became easier for him to breathe, the air becoming purified.

The seer looked up to see Doumeki standing close to him, holding an opaque bow in his hands. He was shooting similarly opaque arrows into the mass of spirits, never missing one he was aiming at. Some of the weaker spirits disappeared if one of the spiritual arrows even came close to them.

Doumeki quickly glanced at Watanuki and nodded towards the tree. He started shooting primarily in a line, forging a path for the two boys. Most of the spirits realised what they wanted and stayed back, wary of dying by purification.

Watanuki and Doumeki started moving forward, the seer standing behind the archer. Silence filled the clearing as the other spirits stopped trying to get close to them and just watched their progress. Before they reached the tree, Doumeki quickly moved so that he was now standing with his back to the tree and Watanuki, shielding the other from the spirits.

When the two reached the tree, the spirits let out a hiss – or a noise similar to the effect of a hiss, depending on the kind of spirit that they were – in unison. Watanuki forced himself to not look at any of them. He was sure that if he did, one of them, if not all, would attack immediately. And they would be swamped by a seething, hovering, oozing and squelching mob of angry spirits.

Watanuki focused on the tree, desperately trying to forget that there was only one Doumeki between him and the spirits.

The tree was a pitiful sight. At one point or another, it must have been grand, wide and majestic. Older than Watanuki by two generations at least. Now it was split in half by a wide crack, dirty black char darkening the wood on the edges. When the seer looked closer, he could see a clear liquid oozing out if the crack, falling steadily down the bark and onto the ground. Once it reached the ground, it was almost immediately soaked into it, making the spot look positively disgusting.

Leaning closer to see better what this strange liquid was, Watanuki was overcome by the heady scent of… _alcohol_?

Mouth gaping open stupidly, he breathed in the unmistakable scent of sake and finally remembered where before he had seen bottles like the ones he was carrying. They were for sake! Why hadn't he remembered that? Why on earth did Yuuko send them to get her some _liquor_ when she knew that it would be dangerous for them? _Again?_

But Watanuki still took the first bottle and opened it, placing it under the stream of alcohol. He waited, cursing quietly all the time, until it was nearly full before he took it away and corked it again. He then took one of the rags and wrapped it around the full bottle. He did the same with each of the remaining three bottles, carefully handling them once they were full, fearful of breaking them.

Though, knowing Yuuko and her unmatched love for the stuff, the bottles would be of the kind that was impossible to break even if one threw them on the ground with all of one's strength.

Watanuki slowly and carefully lifted the heavy backpack onto his shoulders. He took a deep breath, constantly reminded of their current situation when the air made him cough a little. He turned to see that neither Doumeki nor any of the spirits had moved an inch while he filled the bottles. They were eyeing each other, an arrow notched on the bow and ready to fly and the spirits ready to pounce.

Shivering, Watanuki whispered, ¨I'm done. Let's- Let's go.¨

Doumeki nodded and started to move forward again, eyes narrowed dangerously.

Every one of the spirits moved backwards when Doumeki and Watanuki took a step forward, fanning out to enclose them in a circle. They let out small threatening noises, but kept a good distance from Doumeki and his arrows.

(Unseen by Watanuki and Doumeki, a spirit moved one of its many tentacles closer to them. Its movement was covered by the sparse grass growing in the clearing.)

The spirits in front of them moved and allowed Watanuki a clear view into the bush they had peeked from earlier. They were so close.

(Unseen, the tentacle came closer.)

Again, when they got close to the other end of the clearing, Doumeki quickly moved to shield Watanuki behind him from the spirits. He wasn't fast enough.

Watanuki felt something suddenly grab his ankle, tugging it from under him and causing him to fall forwards. For the second time that day, the seer was enveloped by darkness amidst screams.

.-.-.

For the second time that day, Watanuki became aware that he was leaning on something rather soft and warm. It smelled nice too. All he really wanted was to snuggle close to it and revel in the safe feeling it was giving him. He was appreciative when his mind kept quiet this time round and let him enjoy this little piece of safe haven.

Sighing happily, Watanuki moved a little to change posture – he wanted to get a tad closer to this wonderful thing – when he felt something hard pressing against his stomach. That was not pleasant. Frankly, it was annoying, and Watanuki could feel his mind slipping from the relaxation into full wakefulness.

Hoping to keep his mind from thinking properly, the seer moved his hand to try and take the unpleasant thing from between him and his safety. Unfortunately to him, it only managed to do the opposite as his mind jerked to attention when he suddenly dipped and was lifted higher right afterwards.

Watanuki's eyes sprang open. Doumeki's neck was dominating his line of sight. There was the coarse, dirty cloth of Doumeki's shirt rubbing against his cheek and clutched into his left fist. His right hand was resting on the bag Yuuko had given him, the bottles pressing painfully into his chest. There were strong – _warm_ – arms around his legs, holding him up.

His breath hitching a little, Watanuki got ready to scream and flail, his body moving on its own to lean as far back as he could, when Doumeki – because, yes, Watanuki was _on_ Doumeki. _Again_ – leant forward, balancing the seer precariously on his back.

¨Don't move,¨ came the quiet reprimand from the archer.

Watanuki breathed in deeply again, and promptly started to yell, ¨WHAT? WHAT'S THIS? WHY AM I-?¨ Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, afraid of falling, Watanuki placed his hands firmly on Doumeki's shoulders, his legs instinctively tightening around the archer's waist.

Doumeki made a quiet noise of tiredness. ¨You fell unconscious. I've been carrying you since.¨ He slowly moved to straighten his back and Watanuki grudgingly obliged to move closer to Doumeki, draping his arms around the wide shoulders.

¨I- Ah... Doumeki…¨

¨You're heavy.¨

Watanuki squeezed his arm tightly against Doumeki's throat. ¨WHAT? I DIDN'T NEED YOUR HELP, YOU JERK!¨

Doumeki groaned painfully. ¨...Loud...¨

¨WHAT WAS THAT?¨

¨Would you have preferred to become food for the spirits?¨ Doumeki sounded a little angry now, and Watanuki fell silent, nursing a hurt pride that wanted to get revenge – on what Watanuki had yet no ideas, but he'd make up something plausible if someone were to ask – and a shamed gratitude that wanted to thank the archer for saving his life again.

Letting his forehead thump against Doumeki's shoulder, Watanuki whimpered when he heard his own thoughts. Oh, Yuuko would be having _a field day_ when they got back…

Doumeki started to walk again. He chose his steps carefully, moving slowly so he wouldn't drop his precious cargo. And he must have been doing that for a few hours now. The sun was lower in the sky than it had been when they had been at the clearing. Very much lower…

Watanuki felt something in his chest then and made the quick decision that it was irritation coupled with the need to start moving. ¨I want down.¨ The small thought in the back of his mind piped up on something, but the other thoughts hastily drowned it out again.

¨No.¨

Watanuki growled. ¨I can walk on my own, thank you very much!¨

Doumeki made a noncommittal sound. ¨Have you seen the size of your ankle?¨ He didn't stop walking.

Watanuki raised his head and stared at the back Doumeki's head. ¨What? Let me see.¨ He could vaguely remember being grabbed in the ankle by something before he lost consciousness, but that was all.

Doumeki didn't answer.

¨If you don't put me down now, I'm going to start screaming.¨

With a weary sigh, Doumeki stopped. He looked around them, searching for a suitable spot to put Watanuki on. Seeing a mossy stone, he moved to it and turned, lowering himself so Watanuki ended up sitting on it, the bottles on his lap.

Actually, Watanuki's ankle didn't look that bad. It was just a little swollen and he didn't feel any pain from it whatsoever. It didn't hurt when he slowly and carefully moved the ankle in a circle. The seer couldn't see any reason why he wouldn't be able to walk back to the beach house by himself. He'd suffered sprained ankles, and worse, before this.

With those thoughts in mind – carefully obliterating the small thought trying to point out something – Watanuki rose to his feet, clutching the bag, and let out a small scream of pain as his placed the injured foot on the ground. Needless to say, when he started to fall, half-unconscious already, Doumeki caught him again.

It took a few minutes, but when Watanuki was suitably in his right mind again, Doumeki ordered him to get on the archers back again and to stay quiet. Watanuki, too tired and in too much pain, couldn't find anything to complain in that arrangement. Though he was sure that he would find something to complain the next day.

.-.-.

When they get back to the house later that day, Watanuki and Doumeki both were so tired that Yuuko and Mokona decided to help them – as much as those two can when they are that drunk from the wine they had brought with them – to get to bed immediately.

.-.-.

¨Wa-ta-nu-ki~!¨

It was the day after Watanuki's and Doumeki's 'little excursion into the woods' and the seer had woken up too early for comfort with pains all over his body. And a huge headache to boot. Absolutely _wonderful_. The ankle was better, though. It was apparently thanks to some cream Yuuko had put on it the previous evening.

¨Watanuki! Come here!¨

Watanuki stopped his scrubbing of the kitchen counter and sighed angrily, before walking to the living room where the witch had draped herself across the faded brown sofa. He stood in the middle of the room, glaring at her and her constant crime accomplice.

¨What is it, Yuuko-san?¨ He asked, gritting his teeth.

Yuuko smiled winningly at him. ¨Bring out the sake!¨ She raised her hand in exaltation at the idea. Anything that had anything to do with alcohol usually brought that reaction from her.

Mokona followed her lead, echoing with a loud, ¨Sake!¨ Before starting to giggle at Watanuki's thunderous expression.

¨NO!¨

Both Yuuko and Mokona let out a hurt gasp. ¨Whaaaat? Watanuki-! You must!¨ Yuuko placed her right hand on her forehead in a theatrical pose while leaning her head back. She closed her eyes and made a pained expression.

Mokona fanned her face playfully with his small limb, making cooing noises at the same time. ¨Because you went to sleep immediately after you came back, we didn't even take a taste! We were being generous by waiting!¨

Watanuki glared intensely at them. ¨And now? Doumeki's still asleep!¨ He turned to leave the room, thinking the matter solved when he felt two pairs of eyes on him. _Looking_. ¨And anyway,¨ he spoke hastily, stopping again, but not turning to look behind him, ¨you should wait at least until lunchtime before drinking yourselves silly.¨

Yuuko and Mokona stayed silent and Watanuki had the horrible feeling that they were exchanging a meaningful glance that told, in loud volumes, his thoughts from the day before. He couldn't help shuddering in horror.

¨Well... Since you put it like that, I guess we can wait. After all, if Doumeki-kun hadn't been there, we wouldn't have gotten the sake at all.¨

And, unfortunately, as that was the truth, Watanuki couldn't start screaming that that wasn't the case. One couldn't really when the memory of how they were carried piggyback style before their employer haunted their mind. And the look on that employer's face when she saw that...

¨Watanuki,¨ Yuuko's voice called quietly out to him and the seer suddenly felt safe to look at the witch again. She was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, her elbows perched on her knees and a thoughtful look on her face. Mokona was lying on the hand rest. ¨That reminds me that you need to thank Doumeki.¨

¨Yes, yes, Yuuko-san. I'm sure I'll be making Doumeki bentos for the rest of my life.¨

¨Hmm... You know, Mokona-chan... The way Doumeki was acting last night when they returned makes me think that something must have happened...¨ The tone of Yuuko's voice was only mildly curious, but for those who knew her well could discern the mischief and knowledge amidst the curiosity.

Watanuki was one of those people and he was utterly horrified. He had thought he was safe! ¨NOTHING HAPPENED!¨ He flailed his hands wildly to make his point, but Yuuko and Mokona only exchanged _a look_. It was one of those _looks_... ¨AT ALL!¨ He howled out, tearing at his hair in desperation.

¨There might,¨ Yuuko spoke to Mokona, ignoring the seer, ¨be a better way for Watanuki to repay Doumeki, of course.¨

¨Of course,¨ Mokona answered, a gleam in his eyes.

¨Wha-¨

¨But for _that_ to work, it would need _that_, ¨ Mokona continued, ignoring Watanuki as well.

Yuuko nodded sagely, tapping a finger to her chin. ¨Yes, obviously.¨ She turned to Watanuki – who was by now tearing at his hair again, his mouth open in a not-so-silent scream – and asked, ¨What did Doumeki say when you gave him the box?¨

Watanuki stopped and stared at his employer, confused. ¨What did...¨

¨Doumeki say. Yes.¨

Fidgeting, Watanuki thought back to the previous day. ¨Umm... Well. The idiot that he is, he just said 'yes'.¨ He stared at the two troublemakers and felt a sliver of uneasiness. Yuuko and Mokona were both... ¨Yuuko-san, why are you smirking?¨

¨See, Mokona. I was right. Doumeki-kun agreed.¨

¨Wha-?¨

¨Sure he would! It's obvious!¨

¨I don-¨

¨I think we need to buy that pretty camera we saw in that shop that one time.¨

¨Yes!¨

¨WAAAIT!¨ Watanuki interjected, brining his hand down before him forcefully. ¨WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?¨ Once he had the witch's attention, he calmed down a little. ¨And what about the better way for me to repay Doumeki other than the jackass eating me bankrupt?¨

Yuuko and Mokona started to laugh, both of them holding their stomachs.

¨YUUKO-SAN! You are not helping me at all!¨

¨Well, Watanuki-ku~n... It's very simple really. All you need to give him is...¨

Watanuki leaned forward a little as Yuuko's voice got quieter, determinedly ignoring the delighted gleam in her red eyes, that had most of his mind – apart from the small thought that was radiating smugness all around – screaming that he should run for his life. ¨Yeees?¨

¨A kiss!¨

* * *

><p>Muahahahahaa. Couldn't resist not putting Watanuki's reaction to that last line. x) Ayways, we all know that already. I just thought it would end better here. By the by, can anyone guess <em>why<em> Doumeki said 'yes'? ^-^

And... Oh, yes. Please, **review**! They brighten up my day, and make me so much more happier than I usually am. If you have any criticisms of my writing style or of the humour or if you maybe have a few suggestions on anything, just leave me a line.

Ta!


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